This is a delightfully colourful book about something we take for granted – LIGHT.

This volume casts a wide net, and almost everything about light and its impact on us all is here.

Author Dr. Penny Stanway is well qualified to conduct us through this maze of information. She is a medical doctor who works with complementary therapies and is well known in the print and electronic media in Britain.

Conveniently divided into sections, the book proceeds from Part 1; physical and scientific aspects of the electro-magnetic spectrum. This takes in visible light as well as that which remains invisible, but still affects our lives both in a personal and a planetary fashion. The way animals, and humans in particular, process light is described with great care and detail. The way different colours can affect mood, behaviour and activity is analysed logically with examples. Suggestions are given on changing your light-sensitivities.

Part 2 considers the different light therapies available, both old and new. These therapies may take the form of the very simple and easy to implement such as tinted glasses, eye exercises and light boxes.

Alternatively, more complex therapies such as colour acupuncture, crystal healing, aura reading, visualisation and ‘flash pulse’ therapy are described along with others. I was surprised and ultimately pleased at the inclusion (short though it was) of Neurolinguistic Programming or NLP. This little understood psychological technique is succinctly applied to light in this book.

In Part 3 the reader will get to the nub of the book. Here all the conditions of ‘disease’ that are responsive to light therapy are described and the appropriate therapy outlined briefly. Major systems of the body such as heart lungs, digestive system, skeletal system, are covered in depth, as well as some common yet particular conditions.

Did you know that it's better for a Diabetic to work under full spectrum fluorescent lights? Not surprisingly, the reader finds that fresh air and sunlight are invaluable as therapy or treatment for nearly every condition of our existence. Just as our elementary school teachers and grandparents used to insist, light in all forms is a basic necessity for contented and healthy living. They knew a thing or two!

This is a colourful, very pretty book about light. It charms and entertains on a number of levels. It is simple, it is wide ranging, it informs on the latest, greatest and newest ways to correct or heal conditions of our body and life that cause discomfort or distress.

Light is life. We need to be reminded occasionally. This book does just that in so many ways.

– Reviewed by Jennifer Hoskins in New Dawn No. 93